Jussie Smollett’s Empire co-star Gabby Sidibe expressed her support for the disgraced actor on Wednesday, declaring her belief that he was the victim of a hate crime despite mounting evidence that he orchestrated it himself.
On Thursday morning, Jussie Smollett surrendered himself to Chicago Police to face charges of filing a false police report, after he allegedly faked a racist and homophobic hate crime against himself with the help of two male accomplices.
However, Gabby Sidibe maintains that she still believes Smollett’s version of events, despite growing evidence to the contrary.
“I know him, I believe him, I stand with him. #jussiesmollett,” Sidibe wrote on Instagram, accompanied by a quote from the black nationalist Malcolm X on the oppression of black people.
“This is the media, an irresponsible media. It will make the criminal look like he’s the victim and the victim look like he’s the criminal,” the quote reads. “If you aren’t careful, the media, the media will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
The 35-year-old, who has also appeared in the series American Horror Story, has never made any secret of her political views, previously describing President Donald Trump as a “terrorist” who is “extremely racist.”
“I think the world we live in is extremely racist,” she told Revolt back in 2017. “I think that there is a racist in office. I think he is a terrorist, with what he’s doing… With what he’s setting into motion now, racism is loud. It used to be kind of polite and sort of micro-aggressive, and now it’s really loud, and that is a terrorist act.”
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